Latest news with #Borderless
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Stripe's former growth lead helps African diaspora invest in startups, real estate
When Joe Kinvi joined Touchtech Payments in 2017 as head of finance, the Irish startup couldn't afford his full salary. So he negotiated for stock to make up the difference. Eighteen months later, Stripe acquired the company, and that equity converted into Stripe shares, enough to let Kinvi leave his job, bootstrap a side project, and eventually found a startup. That startup, Borderless, is now helping Africans in the diaspora collectively invest in startups and real estate back home. Since launching in beta last year, the U.K.-based platform has processed over $500,000 in transactions. 'The diaspora sends billions of dollars in remittances, but very little of it goes into productive assets,' Kinvi said. 'We think that there is a world where, if we can bring the right collective to the right type of investment opportunities, it'll make it a lot easier for them.' Kinvi's journey to Borderless began in 2020, just as the pandemic hit. He and a group of friends formed Hoaq, an investment club that pooled small checks from local and diasporan angels into African startups. Their first challenge was simply opening a bank account. Financial institutions flagged their activity, and their account with Wise was repeatedly frozen. Other hurdles soon followed: currency mismatches, regulatory requirements, and accreditation rules that made collective investing a legal and logistical headache. To manage the complexity, the group used membership dues to hire a lawyer to handle the paperwork manually. Eventually, Hoaq built light automation into its workflow, an experience that laid the foundation for Borderless. Hoaq has invested in companies such as LemFi, Bamboo and Chowdeck. Stripe acquires Nigeria's Paystack for $200M+ to expand into the African continent By 2022, Kinvi had left Stripe, where he had transitioned into a product and growth role and later spent a year at Paystack, another Stripe subsidiary, helping scale financial partnerships across Africa. When he returned to the problem that had formed Hoaq, he built a tool that digitized everything from onboarding to disbursement. What began as an internal solution soon gained outside interest. Other collectives wanted access, not just for startup deals but for real estate and other assets. Today, Borderless provides the backend infrastructure for diaspora collectives, allowing them to onboard members, accept cross-border payments, and deploy capital securely. There are over 100 communities on its waitlist, according to the startup. However, over the past couple of months, the collectives currently live on the platform have backed more than 10 startups and two real estate projects in Kenya, with minimum investments of $1,000 for startups and $5,000 for property. Borderless operates under U.K. regulatory cover, permitting it to market investment opportunities to diaspora members without violating securities laws. For now, it focuses on two asset classes, startups and real estate, but Kinvi sees room to expand into others, including film and diaspora bonds. In establishing that the most important part of the Borderless model is trust, Kinvi is blunt about why many diaspora investors hesitate to deploy capital: too many have lost money trying to invest informally through family or friends. 'Someone I know sent €200,000 home to build a house,' he said. 'The house was never built.' To address this, Borderless routes investor funds directly to verified sellers, escrow accounts, or lawyers. No money flows through the hands of collective managers. Legal and compliance checks are embedded into the process, and all opportunities require approval under the platform's regulatory umbrella. Borderless earns revenue through transaction fees as well as a cut of membership dues and FX spreads. Over time, it may layer on remittance products, payout fees, and asset management tools. The bigger opportunity, Kinvi argues, lies in unlocking the $30 billion in migrant savings that sit idle every year. While remittance platforms like Zepz, Taptap Send, LemFi and NALA dominate the space of taking some of that money back home, few have built for long-term investing (that might change in the coming years with recent moves from some players). That message has resonated with local investors. Borderless's backers include DFS Lab, Ezra Olubi (Paystack CTO), Olumide Soyombo, and executives from Stripe, Google, among others. Many are not just investors, but also users of the platform. For Kinvi, the mission for Borderless, which raised $500,000 in seed from these investors, is as much about identity as returns. 'Most Africans in the diaspora want to go back home someday,' he said. 'To do that, they need a way to invest securely and confidently at scale. That's what we're building.' Still, scaling won't be easy. Borderless' current vetting model relies heavily on pre-existing relationships and known collective heads. As it grows, it will need robust identity verification, fraud detection, and legal tooling to avoid becoming a target for bad actors. Sign in to access your portfolio
TechCrunch
4 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Stripe's former growth lead helps African diaspora invest in startups, real estate
When Joe Kinvi joined Touchtech Payments in 2017 as head of finance, the Irish startup couldn't afford his full salary. So he negotiated for stock to make up the difference. Eighteen months later, Stripe acquired the company, and that equity converted into Stripe shares, enough to let Kinvi leave his job, bootstrap a side project, and eventually found a startup. That startup, Borderless, is now helping Africans in the diaspora collectively invest in startups and real estate back home. Since launching in beta last year, the U.K.-based platform has processed over $500,000 in transactions. 'The diaspora sends billions of dollars in remittances, but very little of it goes into productive assets,' Kinvi said. 'We think that there is a world where, if we can bring the right collective to the right type of investment opportunities, it'll make it a lot easier for them.' Kinvi's journey to Borderless began in 2020, just as the pandemic hit. He and a group of friends formed Hoaq, an investment club that pooled small checks from local and diasporan angels into African startups. Their first challenge was simply opening a bank account. Financial institutions flagged their activity, and their account with Wise was repeatedly frozen. Other hurdles soon followed: currency mismatches, regulatory requirements, and accreditation rules that made collective investing a legal and logistical headache. To manage the complexity, the group used membership dues to hire a lawyer to handle the paperwork manually. Eventually, Hoaq built light automation into its workflow, an experience that laid the foundation for Borderless. Hoaq has invested in companies such as LemFi, Bamboo and Chowdeck. By 2022, Kinvi had left Stripe, where he had transitioned into a product and growth role and later spent a year at Paystack, another Stripe subsidiary, helping scale financial partnerships across Africa. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW When he returned to the problem that had formed Hoaq, he built a tool that digitized everything from onboarding to disbursement. What began as an internal solution soon gained outside interest. Other collectives wanted access, not just for startup deals but for real estate and other assets. Today, Borderless provides the backend infrastructure for diaspora collectives, allowing them to onboard members, accept cross-border payments, and deploy capital securely. There are over 100 communities on its waitlist, according to the startup. However, over the past couple of months, the collectives currently live on the platform have backed more than 10 startups and two real estate projects in Kenya, with minimum investments of $1,000 for startups and $5,000 for property. Borderless operates under U.K. regulatory cover, permitting it to market investment opportunities to diaspora members without violating securities laws. For now, it focuses on two asset classes, startups and real estate, but Kinvi sees room to expand into others, including film and diaspora bonds. In establishing that the most important part of the Borderless model is trust, Kinvi is blunt about why many diaspora investors hesitate to deploy capital: too many have lost money trying to invest informally through family or friends. 'Someone I know sent €200,000 home to build a house,' he said. 'The house was never built.' To address this, Borderless routes investor funds directly to verified sellers, escrow accounts, or lawyers. No money flows through the hands of collective managers. Legal and compliance checks are embedded into the process, and all opportunities require approval under the platform's regulatory umbrella. Borderless earns revenue through transaction fees as well as a cut of membership dues and FX spreads. Over time, it may layer on remittance products, payout fees, and asset management tools. The bigger opportunity, Kinvi argues, lies in unlocking the $30 billion in migrant savings that sit idle every year. While remittance platforms like Zepz, Taptap Send, LemFi and NALA dominate the space of taking some of that money back home, few have built for long-term investing (that might change in the coming years with recent moves from some players). That message has resonated with local investors. Borderless's backers include DFS Lab, Ezra Olubi (Paystack CTO), Olumide Soyombo, and executives from Stripe, Google, among others. Many are not just investors, but also users of the platform. For Kinvi, the mission for Borderless, which raised $500,000 in seed from these investors, is as much about identity as returns. 'Most Africans in the diaspora want to go back home someday,' he said. 'To do that, they need a way to invest securely and confidently at scale. That's what we're building.' Still, scaling won't be easy. Borderless' current vetting model relies heavily on pre-existing relationships and known collective heads. As it grows, it will need robust identity verification, fraud detection, and legal tooling to avoid becoming a target for bad actors.
Time Out
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
From Tokyo to Coffs: teamLab is bringing this mesmerising exhibition to regional Australia for the first time
There are countless reasons Aussies travel to Japan – some chase bowls of steaming ramen, others take on the mighty Mount Fuji and plenty are there to just soak in a real-deal onsen. For me, one of the biggest drawcards was to step inside an installation by teamLab – the world-renowned collective behind immersive, multidimensional art experiences in Japan and beyond. Tokyo's teamLab Borderless installation was the highlight of my trip, and I'd fly all the way back just to see another one. But now I don't have to. For the first time, the world-renowned art collective is bringing one of its spellbinding digital artworks to regional Australia – and it's completely free to explore. teamLab's exhibitions have drawn huge crowds everywhere from Tokyo and New York to London and Singapore — with tickets often selling out months in advance. Now, for the first time, the world-famous art collective is bringing one of its mesmerising digital experiences, Flowers and People – A Whole Year per Hour, to regional Australia. Landing at Coffs Harbour 's Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM) from June 14 to August 24, it marks a major moment for the coastal NSW city – and teamLab's first-ever showing outside a metro area. For those who haven't been to a teamLab exhibition, they're not something you simply admire – they're artworks you become part of. This particular interactive video installation condenses the year-long life cycle of flowers into just one hour. As you stand still, the flowers will bloom and grow in front of you. But move, and the petals will scatter and disappear. This real-time interaction means the artwork is continuously changing, and no two cycles are ever the same. 'We anticipate Flowers and People – A Whole Year per Hour will bring new audiences to YAM. Visitors can chill out on beanbags or move in the space to engage with the video and experience this immersive and highly photogenic installation,' YAM City Cultural Services Team Leader Carrie Kibbler said. To make things even better, Flowers and People – A Whole Year per Hour is completely free to enjoy. You can just walk in and explore at your own pace, then check out YAM's two other blockbuster winter exhibitions. That includes Interconnected Entities, a collection of surreal sculptures by artists Patricia Piccinini and Caroline Rothwell, and Shadows Make the Light Shine Brighter, a mind-bending ceramic and video installation by artist Juz Kitson. Flowers and People – A Whole Year per Hour is on at Yarrila Arts and Museum in Coffs Harbour from June 14 to August 24, 2025, and you can find out more here.
Mint
25-04-2025
- Business
- Mint
Foreign ETF lovers find new darlings in China, Brazil
Retail investors romancing the US through exchange-traded funds are discovering new vistas in emerging markets this year. Many Indians who invest abroad under the Reserve Bank of India's liberalized remittance scheme (LRS) appear to have shifted preference to China and Brazil since the start of the year, data from broking platforms indicated. The change comes amid a steep fall in US equities after President Donald Trump unleashed a tariff war. Mint spoke to six brokers who offer direct access to global markets and found that investments into China and Brazil grew relatively more than the US in the current year, albeit on a low base. Still, it shows a marked shift from before, when investors focused mainly on the US markets. 'After January and especially through February and March, there has been growing interest in China, particularly in China-oriented ETFs as well as a few Chinese companies—a time where we noticed a bit of a de-focus on the US," said Sitashwa Srivastava, founder and chief executive officer of Borderless, a platform which has done over $2 billion in trades over the last three years. Also read | Investors rush to cash in on gold ETFs as volatile equities keep them on edge At Vested Finance, another access provider, investments in Brazil-focused ETFs stood at $3 million 2025, an 80-times increase from all of 2024. China-focused ETFs saw a 10x increase to $10 million against all of 2024, outpacing the 3X growth in US ETF volumes. In 2025 so far, investments in US ETFs via Vested stood at $80 million. Data from Appreciate Wealth confirmed the trend. Investments into China grew 36% by volume of trades and 61% by value of investments in 2025, compared to the previous full year. For investments into Brazil, the platform saw a 110% increase in volumes and 245% increase in value in 2025, against all of 2025. In contrast, US-focused investments on the same platform rose just 11% in volume and 18% in value during the same period. The platform did not share data on gross volumes. The shift is driven by more attractive valuations in Chinese and Brazilian markets than in the US. The Dow Jones had corrected 6.57% since 1 January. Against this, the Shanghai Composite and IBovespa have outperformed 1.06% and 10.7% in the same period. In January, Brazil's Ibovespa index traded at a trailing valuation of 10.8x, while the Shanghai Composite Index was trading at 16.2x. The valuations for both were lower than that of the Dow, which was at 23.21x. The growth in investments in China and Brazil coincides with an increase in outbound remittances via LRS for investments in equity and debt, increasing 65% month-on-month to $173.84 million in February, as per RBI. Outbound investments in equity and debt via LRS increased 20% year-on-year to $1.51 billion in FY24. Over a period of five years, the same metric has increased 3.6 times, from a mere $422 million in FY19. Read this | These foreign funds have been selling more Indian stocks than the others. They aren't the ones you thought they were. 'We are seeing an increased interest from Indian investors to buy China stocks, especially the China Tech ETF," said Mayuresh Kini, co-founder of Zinc Money, a broker who offers global market access. Shrivastava added that within China, investors are preferring energy, electricity, EV and tech ETFs. Viram Shah, co-founder and CEO of Vested Finance said, 'Investors, both institutional and retail, are rotating out of crowded trades and into regions like China and Brazil, which are poised for a rebound and haven't yet priced in all the potential upside." He added that this comes at a time when the US equities, especially large-cap tech stocks, are facing multiple headwinds: elevated valuations, geopolitical risk, and earnings uncertainty. Unlike Asia, Brazil's appeal stems from reasonable valuations, a recovering economy, and limited exposure to global tariffs, said Ankita Pathak, macro strategist and global equities fund advisor at Ionic Asset. She added, 'With the organization for economic growth and development (OECD) raising growth forecasts to 2.5-3% for 2025 and expectations of rate cuts following high real interest rates and cooling inflation, investors see strong macro tailwinds." Also read | Big Four of Indian IT lose market share; HCL Tech's outlook offers little relief Even though the US remains a dominant investment destination for most, many investors already have substantial exposure to US, say experts. 'With growing concerns around tariffs, recession risks, and broader uncertainty in the US, some are exploring diversification opportunities like China and Brazil," said a person from and AMC. Even with the US imposing higher tariffs on China, an independent China story will continue, say experts. Pathak said, 'The reason China hasn't collapsed despite facing global criticism is because it's operating from a position of strength. There are many Chinese businesses that are not dependent on the US, which are either domestic-focused or aligned more with the EU."She added that there is more scepticism around China, but there is also more upside than downside. And read | Boom to brakes: Bulk and block deals fizzle out amid market volatility
